Montreal’s Jewish community reflects 2 years after deadly October 7th attack
Posted October 7, 2025 4:21 pm.
Last Updated October 7, 2025 5:40 pm.
Two years after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, members of Montreal’s Jewish community are still grappling with the emotional and psychological aftermath.
Montrealer Robbie Segall was in the West Bank visiting family friends when the attacks began. The coordinated assault by Hamas killed over 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages.
“The first day, on the seventh in the afternoon, was very tense,” Segall recalled. “I stayed in the house with the people I was staying with, scrolling on my phone, talking to people, trying to figure out what was actually happening.”
For Segall, the effort to return home became a harrowing journey he never expected to face.
“I was helping babysit some of the neighbourhood kids whose parents were called up for reserve duty when I got a call from a random Israeli number,” he said. “In broken English, someone told me, ‘Is this Robbie? I have a car to get you to Tel Aviv in 10 minutes. Go get your stuff.’ So I believed her. I ran back, packed everything, said goodbye, and got in a car with a stranger I’d never met before.”
Since the attacks, Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza. The Hamas-run health ministry says more than 67,000 Palestinians, including both civilians and militants, have been killed.
“There’s a saying that every single Jewish person knows someone who has either been murdered or affected by October 7th,” said Michael, Manager of Operations and Engagement at Hillel Montreal. “And so it’s been hard.”
Among those killed during the initial attack was Ben Mizrachi, a 22-year-old from Vancouver who was attending the Supernova music festival near the Gaza border.
“Up until I was about to get on my flight Tuesday morning, all I knew was that Ben was unaccounted for,” Segall said. “And then Tuesday, after I landed in Dubai, I turned on my phone and the first thing I saw was that Ben had passed.”
Back home, Montreal’s Jewish community says the impact of the attacks continues to be felt, especially on college and university campuses.
“Jewish students can feel scared to be on campus, scared of their Jewish identity and targeted because of it,” said Michael.
Segall echoes that sentiment, adding that the current climate is one he never imagined in 2025.
“I find it completely outrageous that there are people who need to be walked to class, and that there are people offering that type of service because others are scared for their safety.”
Still, he says the support from the local Jewish community has offered a rare source of comfort in difficult times.
“The only bright light I’ve seen in the last two years is what the Jewish community in Montreal has been able to put together and how we’ve supported each other in that way,” Segall said.
“Last year was very difficult for me,” he said. “This year… it’s day by day, or at this point, probably week by week.”
